Battle of Agematsu

The Battle of Agematsu was a battle of the Sengoku Jidai between the Oda and Takeda clans of Japan. Nobunaga Oda campaigned against his rival Shingen Takeda in 1574 after the defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara a year earlier, and the ensuing battle saw the Takeda army repel a massive Oda attack and slaughter the invading army. It prolonged the Takeda clan's struggle for another year, when the Battle of Nagashino and the destruction of the Takeda army would render Agematsu a useless victory.

Background
Nobunaga Oda gathered several armies to invade Shinano Province and destroy the rival Takeda clan after hearing about the possible death of Shingen Takeda at the siege of Noda Castle on 13 May 1573, which he believed would weaken the Takeda clan. However, Shingen had faked his death in order to mislead the Oda forces, knowing that Nobunaga would invade his lands once he "died". Shingen raised a large army to fight back against the Oda, and on 27 January 1574 his 3,720-strong army encamped on a field to meet 4,970 Oda clan troops under Nobunaga himself. The Takeda army included the infamous Takeda cavalry that Shingen had relied upon for several victories, matchlock-equipped ashigaru, naginata-equipped infantry, and regular samurai swordsmen; Nobunaga's army was mostly sword-equipped samurai, Yari Ashigaru, and some light cavalry.

Battle
The Takeda lined up their matchlock samurai in front of the rest of their army, with their infantry forming two lines behind the gunmen and the cavalry forming the rear line. Shingen decided to redeploy the cavalry to guard the two flanks, with the majority of the horsemen moving to his left flank in order to crush the Oda forces from one side while the Oda attacked Shingen's infantry on the field. Nobunaga gave the orders for a full attack, and he attempted to send his cavalry out to the flanks in a flank attack. However, Shingen had his cavalry charge Nobunaga's horsemen on both flanks before the Oda light cavalry could reach the Takeda lines, creating two skirmishes on either side of the Takeda army. The Oda cavalry were repelled by the superior Takeda cavalry after a long and bloody fight between the two sides, and Nobunaga simultaneously ordered a full attack on the Takeda lines. The Takeda matchlock samurai were able to mow down some Oda troops before being massacred at close range, but Shingen sent forth his pikemen and swordsmen to hack their way into the Oda army. The ensuing battle led to the Takeda forces pushing through, and the Takeda cavalry charged in from the flanks to finish off some panicking Oda units. The hacking and slashing left hundreds dead on both sides, and the Oda army began to rout. Takeda infantry and cavalry pursued the fleeing Oda soldiers and massacred them, and the rout was complete. 4,510 Oda and 1,777 Takeda troops were lost in the battle, and Shingen proved that the Takeda were still able to fight against the fearsome Nobunaga.